Articles

Before the story fades completely from the media spotlight, Jeff is back with some public rumination on the recent “Vancouver Stanley Cup Riot of 2011” (as the local media calls it), the psychology of team sports in general and what this has to do with our ongoing internationalization conversation.

“Who are the barbarians of today and should we invest there?” – The “barbarians” at the time of the fall of Rome (or at least those who attracted the productive class of Romans at the time) were an assortment of tribes living largely to the north of the empire and even within the empire.

“Who are the barbarians of today and should we invest there?” – The “barbarians” at the time of the fall of Rome (or at least those who attracted the productive class of Romans at the time) were an assortment of tribes living largely to the north of the empire and even within the empire.

The high rate of inflation most of us believe is waiting not too far down the road will be an earthquake for investment markets. The likely winners (gold, silver, precious metals stocks) and the likely losers (long-term bonds and most stocks) aren’t too hard to identify. But separating the sheep from the goats is only one element for financial success in an environment of rapidly rising consumer prices.

Is Thomas Jefferson responsible for America’s current-day financial crisis? Is there a revolution on the horizon? IM correspondent Jeff Thomas takes us on a provocative journey – both past and present – of one of the most famous documents ever drafted: The U.S. Constitution

Will the US government confiscate the gold held by its citizenry at some point, as they did in 1933? Will other countries, particularly the EU countries, follow suit? This subject is a particularly thorny one.

For many years, those of us who are not American have frequently advised our American friends of the coming economic collapse of the US, suggesting that they prepare a “back door” so that they are not trapped in a location that may well be a problematic and even dangerous place to live for themselves and their families.

Just when you thought there was nothing more the US government could do to motivate you to ship your financial life offshore, they came up with another one. And if you have a sizeable net worth, it’s a big one; you could save your family $2.2 million in taxes by acting on the opportunity during the next 21 months. A husband-and-wife effort could save twice as much.

For many years, we have been predicting that the die has been cast for economic and political cataclysm for the US economy and, by extension, that of the first world. Not surprisingly, the reaction by most others over the years is that the sun is still shining and that only a “Chicken Little” would be predicting a major storm. During this period, most people have said, “We’ll deal with it if it comes and not before.”

For many years, we have been predicting that the die has been cast for economic and political cataclysm for the US economy and, by extension, that of the first world. Not surprisingly, the reaction by most others over the years is that the sun is still shining and that only a “Chicken Little” would be predicting a major storm. During this period, most people have said, “We’ll deal with it if it comes and not before.”

If everything you own is held in your own name in your own country, then you are not merely exposed, you are vulnerable absolutely, to whatever decisions the government might make about how you should behave and who gets the wealth you’ve earned.